School Safety Law Blog

In Alabama, a non-partisan research institute is calling for specialized and fully funded training for all school resource officers in the state.  Its Report, “Hall Monitors with Handcuffs,” found that arrests, referrals to the juvenile justice system, and school climate are largely dependent on the quality of the training school officials and law enforcement officers receive.

In Indiana, the Secured School Safety Grant program has approved more than $19 million in matching state grant funds, marking the largest ever single-year investment in safety initiatives at Hoosier schools.  Every school that applied for fiscal year 2020 funds received notification that their top priority requests were fully funded for all eligible items. With the matching funds required by schools, more than $35 million will be invested in school safety this year in Indiana.

In Indiana, the Edinburgh Community Schools are turning to the community and public fundraising events to help raise the money needed to hire the district’s first school resource officer.  The school corporation recently received word that they had secured $25,000 in Indiana Secured School Safety Grant funding. Conditions of the grant require the school district to provide a 50% match of the funding.

In Virginia,  police officers in Newport News are implementing an Adopt-a-School program to create positive relationships with the students.  Officers and some none-sworn staff will be assigned to each elementary school to help mentor the students.

In Massachusetts, educators are implementing a series of new policies to combat the growing epidemic of teen vaping.  Some school officials are educating the community via social media.  Others deploy more staff members in the halls during and in between each class period.  One school requires students to sign in and out to use bathrooms.  Another school is procuring devices to help determine whether the substance in a vape cartridge is liquid nicotine or THC.  Another is instituting a zero tolerance standard of suspensions up to 180 days.

In Lousiana, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office has launched the StudentProtect app, a free smartphone app that allows parents, students and school faculty members to quickly connect with law enforcement.  The app allows users to anonymously submit tips to the school resource officer team about threats, bullying, and suspicious activity.

In Texas, the Governor released the Texas School Safety Update Report on the progress made to keep students and teachers safe at school.   Highlighting the Report was the passage of Senate Bill 2432, which requires a student to be removed from the classroom and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program if the student engages in conduct that contains elements of harassment.  This law protects teachers and students in the classroom and prevents the need to suspend the class and clear out the classroom.

In Arkansas, the Bryant Police Department will spend $78,000 to buy 33 body cameras.  All traffic units, school resource officers and patrol officers will wear the body cameras at all times. A few extras will be available as needed for school administrators.

In Maryland, the Court of Appeals held that a juvenile who sent a video to her two best friends that showed herself performing fellatio can be adjudicated delinquent under Maryland law both as the person who is a distributor of child pornography and a displayer of obscene matter.  The court reasoned that the Maryland legislature had not amended the laws to include an exception for minors since the advent of sexting.  (In Re S.K.)

In Wisconsin, the Oregon School District is rejecting provisions of the school resource officer program as it comes up for renewal.  The primary objection is to a proposal to procure an assault rifle for the officers.  The other concerns focus on the role of the SRO.

In Arkansas, school officials in Fort Smith have decided to maintain the school resource officer program with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office in addition to the internal school police department it recently created.  The school board unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding to combine the programs.

In California,  the Burbank Unified School District is hosting community meetings on the rising use of tobacco and electronic cigarettes.  The district’s resource officers also participate, demonstrating several types of e-cigarettes, including some resembling iPods, flash drives, pens and chargers.

In New York,  the Court of Appeal held that a student who was assaulted on campus is entitled to records of all assaults that occurred on school grounds to help her case.  The court reasoned that in determining whether the duty of a school to provide a safe campus  is breached in the context of injuries caused by the acts of fellow students, it must be established that school authorities had sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct which caused injury; that is, that the student misconduct could reasonably have been anticipated.  (M.C. v. City of New York)

In Louisiana, the Louisiana Court of Appeal held that a school was liable for an older student’s actions when he sexually abused a younger student on a school bus.  The evidence showed that school officials were aware of the recurring behavior of the student, but did not intervene properly and did not follow their policy of reporting the incidents to police or child protection agencies.  The court ruled that the school board had a duty to protect its students and that liability is appropriate when the risk of injury is foreseeable and preventable if a requisite degree of supervision had been exercised.  (Pike v. Calcasieu Parish School Board)

In New York, the New York Supreme Court held that a school was not liable for the death of a student after he was struck by a train in an apparent suicide.  Parents for the victim alleged that the school district was indifferent to bullying and harassment from other students.  The court disagreed because the death occurred after school hours and off school premises, the school district did not have control over the victim, and school officials were not on notice of the possibility of the suicide nor were under a distinct duty to guard against it.  (Collazo v. Hicksville Union Free School District)

.• In Missouri, officials from the Ferguson-Florissant School District are implementing a policy that will require students to transport books, binders, and calculators into clear backpacks as part of an attempt to eliminate the weapons that have ended up on their campuses.